March 13th, 2018

Nearly 23 years after walking off a work detail, an escaped New Jersey prisoner was captured in Florida, authorities said.

Enrique Silva, now 73, was taken into custody by the the U.S. Marshals Service after running out the back door of a house in Orlando on Thursday morning.

Enrique Silva as in inmate in the late 1980s and 1990s, left, and after being captured last week in Florida, right. (DOC) Silva was serving the sixth year of an eight to 20 -at the since-closed Riverfront State Prison in Camden for dealing drugs when he vanished on May 16, 1995.

Last month, Department of Corrections investigators, now part of the marshals service regional task force, learned of an address in Orlando where a “potential female acquaintance” of Silva resided.

Investigators began conducting surveillance and one day saw a man wearing a gray beard matching Silva’s description walking in and out of the home.

“It was old-fashioned police work,” said Mike Schroeder, a spokesman for the U.S. Marshals Office. “A lot of interviews and unearthing of potential addresses. In this type of work, a lot of leads don’t pan out and (investigators) finally hit pay dirt.”

Silva, who is in custody in Florida, will next have an identity hearing before arrangements are made to return him to New Jersey, Schroeder said.